Disneyland Paris and...

I was so pleasantly surprised when we found ourselves driving away for Disneyland Paris at about 0515, only 15 minutes later than I had hoped to depart. And we forgot nothing!! This trip was starting out perfectly, and if you've read any of my blogs at all, you know that is not normal for us.

About four hours into our five hour drive, I started getting dizzy and having tunnel vision. We got to Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch at about 1030 with no issues other than that. When we went in to get our tickets, they told us our lodge wouldn't be ready until 1600. I could handle it, so we went to Disneyland, and although I was starting to get chills from the fever I was running, I was enjoying myself quite a bit. We went through It's a Small World, and I told the kids they have now been inaugurated into the world of Disney.

By about 1500, I was feeling awful and counting down the minutes. We finally made it to the lodge around 1800. I pretty much told David I needed to lie down and rest because I couldn't do anything more. The next day, it took everything I had inside me to get Melissa to the park for the day. I was wiped out and still not even close to recovering. We had a reservation for a character lunch at 1245. When I was little, character meals were the most fun for me, and I wanted the same experience for my kids. That was my next target.

We were late. Melissa was incredibly patient, sweet, forgiving, and exact with her directions. So fortunately, they didn't give away our table, and we didn't have to mess around wondering where to go. My favorite was watching Rabbit from Winnie-The-Pooh interact with the kids. Look at those hugs! Griffin is absolutely buried! The kids clearly had a good time. Lilly loved watching them from a distance, and let Mickey Mouse get close enough for pictures. I was doing well enough and planning to make it to the fireworks, but surprisingly enough, even with our late start to the day, the kids simply could not. So I brought the kids "to our new home", as they put it, and David and Melissa stayed for the fireworks and took a taxi back later.

Griffin and Livvy were both getting sick. I loaded them up with Tylenol and got them to sleep. It was just as well, since I was overtired and not feeling well, yet. But Livvy woke up several times in the middle of the night needing pain medicine for her throat. Griffin slept all night but, as I had feared, woke up the next morning in what I can imagine was excruciating pain in his throat. I never heard of a virus doing this, but my throat was killing me! It felt like needles! It felt like it had felt after my tonsillectomy at 25 years old! 

We had bought Alex some Chloraseptic, so I gave that to Griffin immediately and then gave him some ibuprofen. I got Melissa to the park a little bit earlier than the day before, but told her we were going to take a sick day. This was Disney day 3 of 4. It was our second of 2 full days at the park. It just wasn't going to work out for us. We did go in around 1900, finally. I thought we might watch the fireworks, but instead decided we should ride rides. We didn't get to ride much, because even though they say they don't close until 2030, they start closing everything right around 1930. I got to do the Nautilus, which I had been looking forward to. Its description made it seem like the old 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I've always remembered fondly from our trips to Disney World. Unfortunately it wasn't. It was just a walkthrough. Wah wah.  

It turns out that even that little bit proved to be too much for Griffin, still.  The night ended back at Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch with Griffin spitting sticky Tylenol all over the two of us.  It had not been a pleasant day at all.

The next morning, day 4 of 4, I got up in time to get to Walt Disney Studios for Magic Hour.  Even though I still wasn't feeling that well, I really wanted to ride the Tower of Terror at least once.  But, Magic Hour wasn't very magical, and the Tower of Terror was one of several rides that weren't open until the park opened to the public.  I did ride the Rock'n Rollercoaster, which I love, and Ratatouille, which was a very clever ride. It was pretty much during Magic Hour that I decided it was time for us all to go home. I prayed that David would be willing to drive without a fuss.

He was, and he seemed relieved that I didn't want to take the kids back into the park for another day of torture fun.  About 3.5 hours into the 5 hour drive, I noticed David getting the chills, and I didn't even have to ask.  He wanted to try to push through, but that just didn't seem right. We stopped for a bio break and I took over the driving.  I'll tell you, the German home never looked so good to any of us!

So our Disneyland Paris trip was a bit of a flop. The two things I wanted to happen the most, after the character meal, didn't happen: to ride a roller coaster with Alex and for the girls to meet Minnie Mouse. But a vacation flop can happen anywhere. We were there from Monday through Thursday, and it is now Saturday. I got sick on Monday. Today is the first day I've been able to slip the schedule for the pain medicine because of how bad my throat has been. I don't think it's strep because everyone else has healed up from it. I've been gargling a lot since yesterday, and honestly, it feels like that is what's helping the best. 

I had intended to take Melissa to Koblenz yesterday, but instead sent her to Mainz on her own. I had a reservation in a hotel for Berlin today, but David is still sick and I am still coming back to health, so Melissa went there alone, also. I'm hopeful that we'll both be well enough on Monday that Melissa and I can go to Rothenburg. Tuesday we are supposed to go to Garmisch. I hope and pray Melissa doesn't get sick. I am actually optimistic, but only time will tell.

How cute.

It was fun to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa in It's a Small World, since we had been there in person this year.

Exhausted on day 1!

I think she's a little bit suspicious.

Pinocchio gave Alex a kiss.  Griffin laughed and told Pinocchio that Alex is a boy.  So Pinocchio slapped his head.  The boys laughed and talked about that later that night.

That's quite a hug, Rabbit!